Welcome to Diya’s Newsletter by me, Diya. I am currently a grade 8 student, who is interested in education, research and fusion energy. At the start of every month, I will be sending out a newsletter that will talk about things I’m working on, my goals for the month, a podcast and book recommendation and thought of the month. Now, let’s get into my November recap!
Ongoing project …
For the past month I have been working with Prerana Manoj (a close friend) on a new mental health initiative. As a teenager, I have routinely struggled with balancing my school work, social life and extracurriculars and it breaks my heart that there are teenagers who have so much pressure to do well in life that they start self-harming or feel suicidal. Nobody should ever feel alone or have no reason to live and that is why I co-founded Euphoria. We are currently in the process of creating an app and getting registered as non-profit! The app we are in the process of developing will give you a safe outlet to express your feelings and new meditations to help teens cope with stress . This app will also give you daily acts of kindness and allow you to track your good deeds for the month. We hope to be releasing the app and website by the end of November. As an organization as a whole, we aim to provide resources teens can use to better their mental health and the bring awareness to this huge problem.
Fusion Energy
This month I have been learning about Fusion energy. Fusion energy is basically mimicking the way the sun gets its energy - by fusing atoms together in a controlled way. It is completely clean and one glass of water could power enough energy for an individual’s lifetime! This has been a distant moonshot for years and many scientists have given up on it because it is so hard to achieve because you need the temperature to be insanely high. In order for fusion to occur, you need a temperature of at least 100,000,000 degrees Celsius. That is more than 6 times the temperature of the Sun's core. But recently, start-ups have been making insane advancements and believe that fusion energy could by in use 2035! I was extremely interested in this topic so I decided to write a short 2-3 minute explanation on how it works. Read my article here to learn more about fusion energy!
Goals for November
I would like to publish Euphoria’s website, finish coding the wellness app and publish it on the app store.
Write 10 letters to Letters & Smiles. Letters & Smiles are a non-profit organization that allows youth to write letters to the elderly. Often you will get a response and will begin to develop a relationship with the senior your letter got sent to!
Improve my mindset. Often I find that I tend to procrastinate if what I am working on will not give me immediate results or benefits. This is not a good mindset because the best results will often occur after years of hard work.
Book and Podcast Recommendation
Book - Far From The Tree
“Being the middle child has its ups and downs. But for Grace, an only child who was adopted at birth, discovering that she is a middle child is a different ride altogether. After putting her own baby up for adoption, she goes looking for her biological family and meets Maya, her loudmouthed younger bio sister, who has a lot to say about their newfound family ties. And when her adopted family’s long-buried problems begin to explode to the surface, Maya can’t help but wonder where exactly it is that she belongs. And Joaquin, their stoic older bio brother, who has no interest in bonding over their shared biological mother. After seventeen years in the foster care system. Together they embark on an unforgettable journey.”
Podcast - The Michelle Obama Podcast
“The Michelle Obama Podcast features the former First Lady diving deep into conversations with loved ones—family, friends, and colleagues—on the relationships in our lives that make us who we are.”
Thought of the Month